Autumn In New York: The Case of Sofia Tyler
by bella-cruz
Summary: The daughter of a high-class politician goes missing from her college dorm room. casefile
1. Chapter One

Title: Autumn In New York: The Case Of Sofia Tyler  
Disclaimer: Not mine, nah-uh.  
Rating: PG:13  
  
x  
  
Chapter 1  
  
x  
  
They call it autumn in New York, but when the leaves change colors, it makes you feel like your in a completely different world. By the time that 18 year old, Sofia Tyler, arrived in New York, the leaves had already started to change.  
  
She had been scheduled to arrive months earlier, but had come across problems. So she was there, one week before her classes at New York University started, thinking about how different the east coast was from the west.  
  
"Miss Tyler?" She spun around to see an elderly woman looking at her with a smile.  
  
"Yes?" Her gaze moved from the woman to the crowd of people moving around them, as if they weren't even there.  
  
"Welcome to NYU, I'm Rebecca Carrington, I'll be showing you around campus." She smiled, wondering if all the other students got administration to show them around, or if her fathers name made her different.  
  
x  
  
A week later, she grabbed a jacket and stepped outside the dorm room. As she walked down the hallway she stopped and turned back around, trying to remember if she had forgotten anything. She shook the thought out of her mind and continued walking, down the stairs, out of the building, and into the great city that is known as New York.  
  
x  
  
Samantha stepped out of the car and made her way over to where Jack stood in the middle of campus grounds. Though classes had started that week, the place seemed to be fairly dead, everyone must have been inside.  
  
"What do we have?" She asked Jack, coming to stand beside him. She glanced down at the file he handed to her, quickly running her eyes over information that she already knew he would tell her.  
  
"Sofia Tyler, 18, was supposed to start her very first day of classes today, never showed up." He quickly glanced down at his notes before continueing. "A Rebecca Carrington filed the missing persons report."  
  
"Friend?" Samantha questioned.  
  
"No. Secretary here at the university. Apperantly, she was supposed to be showing Ms. Tyler the route to her classes. Didn't find her in her dorm room and got worried."  
  
"This girl has administration showing her around? What is she, the President's daughter?" Jack glanced curiously over at Samantha, a small smile threatening to escape.  
  
"I was just getting to that part. Sofia is here from Oregon. Her father, Joseph Tyler, is the Governor of that state. Better book a flight, you and Martin are on your way to Oregon for a game of good old fashioned politics." Samantha couldn't help but groan.  
  
x  
  
Making his way into the dorm room, Danny immediately noticed the scarce amount of personal affects. It reminded him of his apartment. He moved to stand beside Vivian, glancing over her shoulder at the computer screen she was looking at.  
  
"Anything good?"  
  
"Not yet. She didn't seem to be too interested in porn and chat sites. It looks like we have a normal eighteen year old girl on our hands," Vivian replied, looking through Sofia's hard drive.  
  
"Unless you count the fact that other then a box of clothes, and a computer, she has nothing in her room. How long has she been here?" Danny made his way over to the box that was sitting on the bed, opening it and glancing inside at the many items of clothing. He carefully took one piece out at a time, slowly, as if expecting something to jump out and grab him.  
  
Vivian stood up and looked at Sofia's posession's with Danny. "She moved in last week, recently moving here from Oregon. I don't think she had much time to settle in. Must be hard, thrust into a life like this one."  
  
"How long did it take you to unpack when you got to college?" Danny glanced over at her, smirking. "I personally had all my stuff set up quickly. Maybe thats just me, but it was like moving into your first house, you want to make it your own and soon."  
  
"It depends on the kind of person you are Danny, and that's what we're here to do. I'm going to send her computer to the lab to get thoroughly checked out. I'm definitely not a technology buff," Viv explained, smirking right back.  
  
Danny reached in to the box, grabbing what he thought was a shirt, he pulled it out and examined it. After a moment, he laid it down and unfolded the fabric, revealing a picture of Sofia and a older man being a little too friendly. "Ten bucks says that's not the father."  
  
"Do you have a photo of the father?"  
  
"No, not yet. Jack's working on getting one." Danny let out a chuckle. "If I kept up with the national news I'd probably know what the father looked like."  
  
"You and me both," Viv replied, grinning. She looked around the room and noticed not much at all was there; an open suitcase on the floor and a few opened boxes. "It does seem strange she didn't try and put up pictures or posters though, make this more like home."  
  
Danny held up the picture, giving Vivian a serious look. "Maybe she was trying to escape from home. If this isn't dad, then it could have been he found out and that's the reason she picked a college 3000 miles away."  
  
"I wouldn't blame her; being surrounded by a corporate lifestyle all her life. Maybe we have a pissed off rich father on our hands?" Vivian suggested, looking closely at the photo.  
  
"Probably where we should start. Sam said she'd call when their plane landed, I'll fill her in then."  
  
"Okay, let's get to it then."  
  
x  
  
Jack sat in Mrs. Carrington's office, trying to get information out of the distraught woman. "When was the last time you saw Sofia?"  
  
"Last week, when she arrived on campus. I showed her around, then got her settled in her dorm. I told her I'd be by this morning, show her how to get to class, introduce her to the teachers, all of that." She wiped at her eyes, feeling overwhelmed with the situation, tears slipping down her face occasionally. "She just got to New York, how could she have made enemies that fast?"  
  
Jack leaned over and offered her a tissue. "It's all right, just breathe okay? Now, did she have any friends that you knew of on campus? Or anyone she knew at all?"  
  
"I don't believe so. Unless she made some in this past week."  
  
"Okay," Jack muttered, scribbling on his notepad. "Uh, can you tell me, do you know if she had been to New York before? Lived here, visited here? Anything like that?"  
  
"She hasn't lived here, that much I know from her file," She pointed towards the file laying on the desk. "Born and raised in Oregon, lived there all her life."  
  
Jack looked at the file, recognizing most of the information. "And what do her parents do for a living?"  
  
"I haven't ever seen any information on the mother. Her father, other then the fact that he's the Governor of Oregon, I'm not sure about. I think I saw on the news once something about him being a lawyer. Or was it a doctor?" She looked down at her desk, trying to remember but coming up empty. "I can't quite remember."  
  
"So that's why she got all of this special treatment; being personally shown around, helped out with classes, that sort of thing?" Jack asked, writing the information down, getting an idea of where they could be headed.  
  
"What are you implying, Agent Malone?"  
  
"I'm just saying that most students don't get personal tours of the campus and shown to each of their classes in their first week."  
  
"We get alot of high-classed people here, we like to make them feel welcomed."  
  
"That's understandable. Did it seem like she... I don't know, liked the preferential treatment at all?" Jack asked, going out on a limb.  
  
"Not anymore then they all do." She glanced towards the clock. "Agent Malone, I know your just trying to find this girl, but I really should be going. I have to make sure a few of my other students got to class alright."  
  
"Of course, thank you for your time." He stood up and handed her his card. "If you think of anything else, let me know."  
  
"Don't worry, I will." Jack nodded and watched her walk ahead of him out of the office.  
  
x  
  
Samantha walked down the terminal, bag in hand, with Martin following close behind. Martin followed Sam closely, reading over the file as he walked. "Okay she lived here all her life with her father - the governor of the state. No mention of the mother."  
  
"No mention at all? Death report? Nothing?"  
  
"Not yet. I think Danny and Viv are looking into it."  
  
"I should call them." She smiled over at him. "I'll do that if you go rent us a car."  
  
Martin clapped his hands together and nodded his head, smiling. "Yes, Master." He walked away, leaving Sam to call the office. Samantha laughed slightly before grabbing her phone and dialing Danny's number.  
  
"Taylor," Danny answered, reading over some papers.  
  
"Hey. How are things on your side of the country?"  
  
He smiled at the sound of Sam's voice. "Probably not as good as yours. Arrive safely I hear?"  
  
"No, actually the plane crashed. I'm calling to say we've lost Martin." She looked over at Martin standing talking to someone at the Rent-a-Car counter, and smiled.  
  
"I hear the sadness in your voice, there there." Danny couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Got any new info for me?"  
  
He shuffled through his papers. "Well, we did find the mother. She left when Sofia was two with the man she was seeing on the side. She currently resides in Oregon City. Name Daniella Roberts."  
  
"Oregon City? I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that's in Oregon, right?" Samantha questioned.  
  
"Uh yeah, upstate."  
  
"How far is it from PDX? We'll stop by there on our way down to see the Governor."  
  
Danny checked the map and looked at his watch. "A little over half an hour, if the traffic there is anything like it is here."  
  
Samantha smiled and took down the address and directions from Danny. "Anything else? What do we know about the father?"  
  
"Aside from the fact he controls the ground you're walking on? Nothing. You'll find out yourself," Danny smirked.  
  
"Are they legally divorced?"  
  
"Yes, 15 years now."  
  
"He's never been remarried?"  
  
"Actually yes; twice. Both lasted a little under a year. Definitely not a man of commitment," Danny quipped.  
  
"Sounds like your life." She laughed. "When was the last time you had a girlfriend for longer then three months?"  
  
Danny laughed. "I'll answer if you will."  
  
"Martin's coming back over with the keys to the car. Do we know all we need to before we jump right into this thing?"  
  
He sifted through his papers again, not having much luck with a messy desk. "Uh, the boyfriend Daniella ran off with, now her husband, is Nathan Roberts, 36 years old, builder, a bit of a history of domestic violence. You sure you can handle this petite blonde woman?"  
  
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that."  
  
Danny laughed. "I expect to see two agents when you get back okay? Have fun!"  
  
Samantha closed her phone and looked up at Martin as he walked back over. "Tell me you got us a sports car."  
  
Martin smiled and shook his head. "They didn't believe you were the Queen of England, so we got a Jeep." He dangled the keys in front of her.  
  
"Fun." She started to walk towards the exit. "You're driving."  
  
"I love it how you offer my services," Martin quipped, following her out of the airport.  
  
"You should feel blessed. The only other man I do that for is Danny." She smirked, opening the door and going towards the parking garage that Martin pointed towards.  
  
"Speaking of Danny, did he have anything new?"  
  
"Gave me the address of the girls mother. That's about it."  
  
"She is alive and well?" Martin asked, unlocking the car.  
  
"Seems to be." Samantha threw her bag in the back before going and getting in the passenger seat.  
  
"Are you going to tell me the details or do I have to guess?" Martin pulled out of the garage after reading the address and figuring out where to go on a map.  
  
"From what Danny told me, she left with a man she had been sleeping with on the side. Sofia was two at the time, and I would bet that they haven't spoken since then."  
  
"I guess the divorce lawyers had a field day."  
  
"How many times have you been to Oregon before?" She questioned, glancing over towards him.  
  
"We went a couple of times for holidays when I was growing up. Nice place... why?" Martin asked, concentrating on the road.  
  
"Just wondering if we were going to get completely lost, or if you knew where you were going."  
  
Martin glanced briefly at her. "I have a vague idea... very vague idea."  
  
"Great." She groaned, leaning back in her seat and glancing out the window. "Lets hope it isn't that hard to find."  
  
"You're welcome to drive if you don't trust my lack of judgement," Martin quipped.  
  
"You don't like my driving, remember?"  
  
"Your leg's fully healed now. And I'd rather blame you for getting lost than you blaming me."  
  
"Just keep driving. If you do something wrong and I'd rather drive, I'll let you know." She glanced over at him, giving him a small smile.  
  
x  
  
Martin pulled into the driveway of a nice looking suburban house. He got out and waited for Sam to join him. "Looks nice enough."  
  
Sam stood beside him, looking at the house. "How we gonna handle this? Think she's considered a suspect?"  
  
"Everyone's a suspect until we can prove otherwise, remember?"  
  
"Of course I remember. But what are your feelings on it? Do you actually think she'd kidnap her daughter after years and years of not seeing her?"  
  
Martin shook his head reluctantly. "No, but we've seen worse. Let's just talk to her and then judge her, okay?"  
  
Samantha nodded, walking up the porch to the front door and knocking.  
  
Daniella answered the door. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Hi, Mrs. Roberts?"  
  
"Yes, who are you?"  
  
"I'm Special Agent Samantha Spade," Sam turned and motioned towards Martin, "This is Special Agent Martin Fitzgerald, we're with the FBI. We need to talk to you about your daughter."  
  
Daniella stood still for a second. "My daughter?"  
  
"Sofia Tyler."  
  
"Why would you come to me about her? I haven't seen her in... a long time," Daniella stuttered.  
  
"She went missing from NYU yesterday morning."  
  
"And you think I took her?"  
  
"No. We just need to ask you a couple of questions."  
  
"Um, okay." She held the door open and allowed the two agents to move inside, suddenly extremely nervous.  
  
Samantha stepped inside, glancing around and noticing that it looked a bit nicer in there. "How long have you been remarried for?"  
  
Daniella led them into the living room and took a seat. "Um, almost 12 years."  
  
"Any other children?" Sam sat down on the sofa, focusing her attention on Daniella.  
  
"Uh no, I never wanted to be a mother in the first place really."  
  
"Was Sofia a mistake?"  
  
Daniella shifted slightly in her seat. "What are you implying Agent Spade?"  
  
"Did your ex-husband want children and you didn't? Or did you both not want children?"  
  
"Well, Sofia just sort of... happened. I can't explain it. Being a mother was great at first, but it became... tiring after a while."  
  
Samantha nodded. "What made you get a divorce?"  
  
Daniella chuckled slightly. "Would you handle living with a politician and an infant for a long period of time Agent Spade? It's not all it's cracked up to be... I'd had enough of feeling single."  
  
Samantha glanced towards Martin, silently asking him if had any questions for the woman.  
  
Martin looked at Daniella, "Have you had any contact with your daughter since she left?"  
  
Daniella looked at her hands, fidgeting them nervously. "I uh... I sent her a couple of letters a few years back and got one reply. It wasn't positive, let's just say that."  
  
"Do you still have the letter?"  
  
"Uh, yeah." She got up and walked into her room, digging the letter out of the back of a drawer. She walked back into the living room and handed it with a shaky hand to Sam.  
  
Samantha smiled softly, taking the letter and opening it to read. Martin watched Daniella intently, "Mrs. Roberts, do you know of anything else that might help us find your daughter?"  
  
Daniella shook her head, keeping her eyes down, hating how little she knew about her own child. "She always cried when her father left as a baby... but other than that, I don't know, I'm sorry."  
  
"Was your ex-husband ever abusive?"  
  
"He um... I wouldn't say abusive, he was just very, forceful. He always wanted his own way - as all politicians and hot-head money makers do," Daniella explained, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
Martin smiled and nodded, thinking about his own father. Samantha looked up, folding the letter and putting it back in the envelope.  
  
"Do you mind if we hold onto this?"  
  
"No, by all means. If it will help find her."  
  
"Thank you. You've been alot of help." They both stood, shaking Daniella's hand.  
  
"Let me know when you find her," Daniella muttered, smiling politely and walking them to the front door.  
  
"Don't worry, we will." They left the house, walking back towards the car.  
  
"So, you still think she took her?" Martin asked, looking at Sam.  
  
"I was the one that said she wasn't a suspect." Sam said, getting in the passengers seat.  
  
"What do you think of her?"  
  
"That she wasn't able to handle being a politicians wife, so she left."  
  
Martin nodded, pulling away from the house. "She seems to miss her daughter though, but I doubt she'd take her."  
  
"I doubt the daughter would ever talk to her again. She said some nasty things in that letter."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"I'm not going to repeat her. You can read it when we get to Salem."  
  
Martin nodded. "Okay."  
  
x  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Chapter Two

x  
  
Chapter Two  
  
x  
  
_It's raining again. I can hear the drops beating down on the roof as I try to sleep. Sleep doesn't come though, and I know it won't. He's been here again, I can feel it. I don't understand why he can't leave me alone. What did I do to him? Oh, right, he says I've hurt him. I can't see how, I thought he was unbreakable. Thought wrong, I guess.  
  
The ceremony was lastnight. Father gave a speech about corruption. I felt like telling the world the things he's corrupted with his power. He has too much power, and he uses it against me. Taunting me with it.  
  
I cannot wait to leave this place. Get out of here as quickly as possible. It's become too normal. Fall is coming, the leaves are changing colors, and I feel as if I too have changed with the seasons. Soon I will be but a leaf caught up in the breeze. Drifting away from the place that haunts my dreams. Haunts my thoughts.  
_  
x  
  
"Martin?" Martin jumped when he heard Samantha's voice and felt her hand on his shoulder. "Whoa there. You okay?"  
  
"Yeah. Fine." He answered, looking back at the journal in his hands. This girl had alot more going on with her then what was on the surface.  
  
"What'd you find?" Samantha questioned, leaning over his shoulder, trying to see the journal. He turned around and handed the journal to her.  
  
"Sofia's journal. That's the latest entry, dated three weeks ago."  
  
"Why would a girl like Sofia forget her personal journal at home?" Samantha's eyes drifted over the journal. "A home she obviously didn't like being at."  
  
"My guess is, it was an accident." Martin looked over at Samantha curiously, "They schedule us a meeting with the Governor yet?"  
  
Samantha looked around the missing girls old bedroom, before nodding and walking to the door to continue the search of the other parts of the house. "He'll be here in about an hour, his receptionist said. You going to stay up here? Keep looking?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so. I'm going to see what else this girl's hiding." Martin gave her a small smile, while sitting down at Sofia's desk and opening the journal again.  
  
x  
  
_Darkness and I can feel him entering the room. Creeping inside and coming to the bed. I wish to scream, but no sound exits my mouth. I know what will happen if I scream. Father will come to the 'rescue.' Finding him here in my room.  
  
His weight is on the bed. I wish the sheets would swallow me. Give me an escape route before he realizes I'm not asleep. Every part of me hopes he doesn't notice. I know what's to come if he does. The same thing I've been dealing with for months now.  
  
Amazing how Father doesn't see any of this. I'd tell him but so much pain comes with the truth. Pain I don't think I could handle. Even though by now, part of me believes I could go through anything after what he's done to me.  
  
Day after day, night after night, it's always the same. Pain and weakness. The inability to say no to him. Why can't I say no? How hard would it be? Do I love him so much that I can let myself let him down? But, isn't he the one letting himself down?  
  
He's taken my body far too many times to count. It wouldn't even be considered mine anymore, because I've given it to him time and time again.  
  
I can still remember the first time, the feeling of love in the room. There was pain then, but not like this. This is different on so many levels. This is pain that I have no control over. Pain that breaks the soul. And the heart.  
  
_x  
  
"Sam!" Martin called, leaving the girl's room and going in search of his partner. He found her in one of the spare bedrooms, going through a closet of what looked like old unused clothes. "We have a problem."  
  
"Get something from the journal?" Samantha asked, closing the closet door and turning to look at Martin. She noticed that his face was pale, and he looked like he was going to throw up at any moment. "Martin, what is it? You look terrible."  
  
"Sofia was being abused."  
  
"Physically?"  
  
"Sexually." Samantha sighed, she could feel the case getting tougher.  
  
"By her father?"  
  
"No. The way she puts it in her journal, it's someone who her father knows." Martin motioned for Samantha to follow him as he walked back to Sofia's bedroom and grabbed the journal, handing it to his partner.  
  
He didn't want to admit that the case was getting to him. They had only been working the case for a few hours. But he could feel the distinct familiarity.  
  
"So who do you think it is?" Sam questioned, bringing him out of his thoughts.  
  
"Either someone her father doesn't like, or someone her father likes alot." He stated, knowing the answer all too well.  
  
x  
  
"I got absolutely nothing from the school administration." Jack stated, walking into the bullpen, where Danny and Vivian sat at the conference table searching through old records. "Please tell me you two got more then I did."  
  
They both looked up at him, facial expressions reflecting his. He knew that was a no.  
  
"The only thing we've got that could even be considered useful would be whatever the tech guys are downstairs pulling out of that computer." Danny answered, reading yet another file on the Governor of Oregon. He figured that by now, he knew more about the Governor then he knew about himself.  
  
"Nothing at all? This girl's been in New York City, on her own, for a week, and you're telling me she hasn't gone to a club or restaurant, or anything?"  
  
"Nothing." Vivian said, looking up at their boss. "These records imply that she hasn't even left her dorm room all week."  
  
"Maybe she was studying." Danny suggested, putting the file down and fully joining the discussion.  
  
"Isn't she eighteen?" Jack questioned. "Would you be studying?"  
  
"No, probably not."  
  
"When was the last time Martin and Samantha called?"  
  
"Haven't talked to them since they arrived in Oregon."  
  
"Call them, see if they're having better luck." Jack directed, before turning and walking off towards his office.  
  
x  
  
The phone rang twice before he hung up. Curiosity struck him as he wondered why neither Sam, nor Martin, could answer their phones. His thoughts were interrupted when one of the tech guys stepped up to his desk and asked him to come down to the lab. Danny smiled, they must've found something.  
  
He followed the technician to the lab and listened to one of the guys trying to describe how they had found the info. Too much technology, Danny felt his head hurting.  
  
"So then, once we got ahold of the deleted files we transfered them to one of our computers." The tech pointed to the screen in front of them. "It's all photographs."  
  
Danny's eyes scanned over the half a dozen photos on the screen, most of which seemed pretty... disgusting. He felt bile rising in his throat as he pulled his cellphone from his belt and dialed his bosses number.  
  
"Malone." Came the answer.  
  
"Jack, you might want to come down to the lab, they found something I think you'll want to see." A dialtone met Danny's suggestion and he knew Jack was on his way.  
  
Within minutes Jack was entering the room and Danny, without muttering a word, pointed to the screen.  
  
"What's it mean, Jack?"  
  
x  
  
_Olivia stopped by today while I was studying. She wouldn't stop talking about her wedding. I felt like killing her. Doesn't she realize I don't care how 'special' Eric is? Does she not see that she's throwing salt in my wounds?  
  
The stinging has left, leaving behind a hollow feeling. I wonder if missing limp syndrome happens when you lose your heart. That must be it. That must be why I feel so empty.  
  
I even feel empty when he's here. As if he can't give me enough. He can't fill me with his lust.  
  
I walked in on Father and Natalie fighting earlier. I swear the man cannot find a woman who he gets along with. He's only with them for the publicity. How would it look if the Governor told his people that he was so hotheaded he could not stay with one person for longer then six months?  
  
When this campaign started, I never thought it'd turn out like this. He was like this before, but it got worse as he got more powerful. I cannot remember the last time we sat down to eat dinner as a family. I almost miss those times.  
  
If only he'd see that I have changed. I have grown older. I have become the one his best friend lusts after. The center of another mans pleasure. And not the same pleasure he finds with me. Not the hating, fighting, abusive pleasure. But the lustful pleasure. The sexual pleasure I have found that I can give him.  
_  
x  
  
They were getting nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. It only helped to remind Samantha just how much she hated politicians. If it weren't for the journal Martin found, she'd say that the trip to Oregon was completely useless.  
  
Sofia's father barely knew her. She could understand now the hateful words that had been written in the journal. This girl was going through so much and all on her own.  
  
"Mr. Tyler--"  
  
"Please, Joseph."  
  
"Joseph, do you know if your daughter was dating anyone?" Martin asked, cringing at the use of the first name, it for some reason didn't sound right.  
  
"She was a private person, Agent Fitzgerald, if she were, she wouldn't have told me." The man answered, his face showing no feeling whatsoever. It amazed Martin that he could talk about his missing daughter without so much as a hurt facial expression. He was either really good at hiding his feelings, or really good at not having feelings at all. Martin couldn't decide which was true but if the man was anything like his own father, it was probably the latter.  
  
"Do you know the names of some of her close friends?" Samantha questioned, looking from her notebook to the Governor.  
  
"Only one. Olivia Halaman, soon to be Olivia Cartwright. She's to be married in a couple of weeks."  
  
"Could you give us her address?" The man nodded, standing and walking over to a desk in the corner of the room, after a moment of searching through papers he came back with a wrinkled paper with the scribbled address on it.  
  
"Sofie insisted that I keep that address laying around. Most likely for this exact reason." Martin noted that atleast the man had a nickname for his daughter, that had to mean something. Right?  
  
x  
  
_**Sofia Tyler sat talking to her bestfriend, not really paying attention. It was no use, her mind just wouldn't let her concentrate on the nonsense coming out of the other womans mouth.  
  
"Sof', are you even listening to me?" She glanced over at Olivia and smiled her sweet smile.  
  
"Of course, what makes you think I'm not?"  
  
"You're drifting over there." Olivia took another sip of her latte, looking at her friend over the rim of the cup. She set it back down on the cafe table and smiled softly. "You thinking about that guy again?"  
  
"What guy?" Sofia questioned, her attention now focused on the present.  
  
"What guy?" Her friend repeated, laughing. "The guy you've been ditching me for. And don't tell me 'there's no guy,' I know you, there has to be a reasonable explanation. And thats the only one I can think of."  
  
"There's no guy." She replied, stubbornly.  
  
"Sofia Christine Tyler! There is a guy! Spill."  
  
"Fine. There's a guy."  
  
"And...?" Olivia sat foreward, her latte forgotten about as she tried to pry out of her friend every juicy detail.  
  
"And what?"  
  
"Are you sleeping with him?"  
  
"Sort of." Sofia answered. If there was one thing she hated, it was being questioned like this. She recieved alot of it being the Governor's daughter and all, but hated it even more when it was her friends questioning her. Could they not see she didn't like telling people about her personal life? Even if they were her friends and technically were apart of that 'personal' life.  
  
"How do you 'sort of' sleep with someone?" Olivia asked, wondering why her friend wouldn't just come out and answer the question.  
  
"It's complicated, Liv."  
  
"Aren't all relationships complicated?"  
  
"Well, yes, but this ones even more complicated." Sofia took a sip of her coffee, avoiding her friend's gaze.  
  
"He's married, isn't he?" Olivia wasn't granted an answer and her mouth fell open in shock. "Sof' are you having an affair?"  
  
"You could call it that."  
  
"Yes or no?"  
  
"Yes." She whispered softly. "He's in an unhappy marriage. Things just happened."  
  
"How long has it been going on?" Her friend asked, still visibly shocked.  
  
"About a month." Sofia answered.  
  
"You know you're setting yourself up for a fall. Affairs are always trouble Sof'. Unless he's willing to leave his wife for you, you're going to end up heartbroken in the end."  
  
"It's just sex, Liv. Neither one of us is wanting something more." Sofia sighed. "Hell, I'm leaving soon for college. It'll end then. Until we get to that point... we'll fulfill each others needs."  
  
Olivia nodded, she knew convincing her friend that what she was doing wasn't worth it, was useless. She was stubborn and would choose not to listen to the voice of reason. Not unlike her father, even if she hated to believe it.  
**_  
x  
  
To Be Continued... 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
x  
  
_**"Tell me again why I have to be in your wedding." Sofia complained, glancing at her reflection in the mirror. The pastel blue dress was about two sizes too small, causing her breathing to slow and she had the feeling that wasn't healthy.  
  
"Because, Sof', you're my bestfriend. I couldn't get married without having you as my maid of honor." Olivia replied, giving instructions to the seamstress while circling her friend. "Besides, you look wonderful. The color of the dress brings out the color in your eyes."  
  
"Olivia..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"My eyes are green."  
  
"Oh." Olivia smiled, telling the poor little old woman working on the dress to lower the neckline by atleast an inch. Sofia glanced down, watching as her cleavage started to show more and more.  
  
"Liv, are you trying to make me look like a hooker?" Sofia squirmed slightly, barely dodging the needle the old woman was poking at her dress. A curse came out of the womans mouth as Sofia glared at her 'bestfriend.' "Liv, I can't breath!"  
  
"Okay, okay! Stop your yappin', she's almost threw with the alterations." Sofia felt her head spinning as the need for air hit her full force. "Sof'? Sof' you okay?" She heard the words but could barely distinguish them as her eyes closed and her body fell limp.  
**_  
x  
  
"Missing? Sofia's missing?" Olivia's face paled as tears came to her eyes. She wiped them away before they could even threaten to fall, took a deep breath, and looked at Samantha once again.  
  
"No one has seen her since last week." Samantha explained, unable to keep her eyes from roaming around the massive bedroom. It was probably larger then her apartment. "Ms. Halaman--"  
  
"Olivia." She recalled the Governor saying the same thing to Martin and smiled, atleast everyone seemed to accept the agent's butting into their lives. Or maybe they were used to it. Olivia's family obviously had money. Which, most likely, meant they were higher up in the community.  
  
"Olivia, we've had a hard time finding out anything about your friend."  
  
"Sof' is a very private person. She doesn't let many people in." Again, tears and a swift wiping away. Samantha wondered if rich people weren't allowed to cry.  
  
"Any reason for that?"  
  
"Well, Agent Spade, when you live in this world you learn quickly that anything you say could make it's way to the press." Samantha nodded. She knew how it felt, after working so many high-profile cases.  
  
"Do you know if Sofia had any enemies?"  
  
"No, she didn't."  
  
"She have a boyfriend?" For the first time, since the interview started, Olivia didn't answer immediately. Samantha nodded again and glanced down at her notebook. "I'm going to take that as a 'yes.'"  
  
"She was having an affair with some married man." Olivia blurted out.  
  
"You have a name for this 'married man'?" Samantha questioned, not about to lose her cool because she had something in common with the missing girl.  
  
"No. I didn't even ask, she wouldn't have told me."  
  
x  
  
"That's not the guy from the picture we found in her dorm." Danny commented, holding a copy of the picture up beside the computer monitor.  
  
"They look alike though. Blood relatives atleast." Jack pointed out, noticing the similar characteristics.  
  
"Brothers?"  
  
"No. Father and son."  
  
x  
  
"Johnson."  
  
"Hey Vivian, it's Martin."  
  
"Hey! Anything new?"  
  
"I was going to ask you the same thing."  
  
"Nothing here, unless Danny and Jack got something from downstairs."  
  
"About the same here. Samantha is out interviewing Sofia's bestfriend and I'm here with the forensics team going over Sofia's bedroom."  
  
"Forensics?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Find anything?" Martin failed to hear the question as he glanced over one of the CSU guys' shoulder. He found himself staring at the bed, which, at the moment, glowed a fluorescent pink.  
  
"Vivian, I'll call you back." He closed the phone without another word.  
  
x  
  
The tears flowed freely after a while, she no longer had the effort to wipe them away. Samantha felt sorry for the young woman as she sat listening to tales of a seemingly perfect childhood.  
  
"Sof' and I have been bestfriends all our lives. Our fathers went to school together and became friends then. So, Sofia and I practically grew up together." Olivia let out a chuckle, lost in her reveries. "My brother, when we were in our freshman year of high school, had a thing for Sof'. I spent all of that year worried that she would start dating him and stop hanging out with me."  
  
"How old is your brother?" Samantha asked, finally getting a chance to speak.  
  
"He's eighteen months older then I am. We're all really close."  
  
"So then, he got over that crush?"  
  
"You know, I'm not sure." Olivia stared at the far wall, pausing for a moment. "He was the one that brought it to my attention that Sofia might have a boyfriend."  
  
"Really? You didn't notice?"  
  
"Ugh, no. We've both been really busy. She's been getting ready for college and I've been caught up in all this wedding madness."  
  
"How can I get in contact with your brother? I'll need to ask him some questions." Samantha couldn't help but remember that everyone was a suspect.  
  
"He's at Willamette University, it's not far from the state capital building. I'll get you his phone number so that you can set everything up with him."  
  
x  
  
_Countless times and I finally answered yes to his question. It was only dinner, or so I had thought. Much more came and now I feel as if I've let down everyone including myself.  
  
How was I to know that I would end up in this tangled web of lies? I would say it's rebellion, but I think I'm past that point. I've never been one to be depressed but this is all messing with my senses. Killing my emotions. And I'm not even sure I'll ever be able to find true love after all of this ends. Because it will end. It's inevitable.  
  
Then again, what is true love? I'm with two men at once. One who is married, and the other who is his son! It's unethical.  
  
I should just runaway. Leave all of these problems behind. But thats not who I am. I got myself into this mess. I should be able to get out.  
_  
x  
  
"Got it!" Vivian called from her computer. She soon felt Danny and Jack standing behind her and she lifted a finger to point at the screen. "Father and son. Found who were in the pictures."  
  
"Mark and Trevor Halaman. Danny, call Martin and Samantha, let them know all of this." Jack stated, taking a closer look at the screen.  
  
On the screen were two DMV photos, one of each man. Their similar features were uncanny. From their deep blue eyes, to their smug smiles.  
  
x  
  
To be continued... 


End file.
